I have invented a device which permits removal of the liquid contents of a conventional sealed paper carton without opening the carton in the usual manner. The device can be used either as a spout to pour the liquid contents of the paper carton into a glass or other receptacle or as a mouthpiece to drink directly out of the carton.
Paper cartons are widely used as containers in marketing fresh milk, cream, orange and other juices, and many other liquids. As such, paper cartons possess many advantages in convenience and economy which have lead to their widening use especially in supermarkets and convenience stores in sizes ranging from half-gallons to half-pints.
Despite their many advantages, conventional paper cartons as presently manufactured and sealed possess two major disadvantages. First, they are difficult to open in the manner the manufacturer intends them to be opened, even for persons with strong hands. Rather than the simple two-handed opening promised by following the directions printed on the carton, the person opening the sealed carton is often required to use a knife or other utensil to pry open the spout formed by the upper edges of the "open here" side of the carton. And for elderly persons and those with hands weakened by arthritis, opening a sealed half-gallon carton of milk is often impossible.
A second disadvantage of opening sealed paper cartons in the manner intended by the manufacturer is that they cannot be reliably re-sealed, thus no longer being transportable without danger of spilling and leaving such liquid contents as milk liable to spoilage.
The foregoing disadvantages of using paper cartons containing liquids are eliminated by using my device for removing the liquid from the carton. My unique device, which I have named Spik-It, is inserted into the inclined top of a sealed and unopened carton and used as a pouring spout or a mouthpiece to drink from the carton. When the carton has been emptied of its contents, my Spik-It can be removed and re-used again and again.
My Spik-It device is preferably made of a high density thermoplastic material such as acrylic and comprises three interconnected parts: a spout preferably having an elongated rectangular opening and a flanged plug for the opening; a cylindrical disk-shaped sealing ring; and a spirally grooved hollow cone whose tip is formed by two intersecting knife-like edges and whose spiral grooves contain a plurality of holes.
To use, the sharp tip of the Spik-It is forcefully inserted into the center of one of the two inclined top sides of the paper carton, such entry being facilitated by the two intersecting knife-like edges at the tip of the cone. Then, using the rectangular spout as a key, the cone of the Spik-It is twisted clockwise into the wall of the carton until the lower surface of the sealing ring rests firmly against the outer surface of the carton.
Surprisingly, as the cone is twisted into the carton, paper picked up in the grooves of the cone folds and is forced inwardly into an annular groove in the lower edge of the ring where a double layer of the paper carton forms a liquid-tight sealing washer as the ring comes into contact with the outer surface of the carton.
Thus inserted and twisted firmly into liquid-tight engagement with the paper carton and with the rectangular spout lying in a horizontal position, by tipping the carton its liquid contents can be poured or drunk as desired without danger of leaking or dripping. And when the partially empty carton is to be transported or stored, the flanged plug is inserted into the spout to seal the carton and prevent spillage or spoilage of the remaining liquid contents.
My Spik-It device can be made in different sizes, those with larger cones and spouts being adapted for rapid pouring of the contents of large cartons, and those with smaller cones and spouts being adapted for use with small cartons of orange juice and similar liquids designed for drinking directly from the carton.